Little Miss Amityville Horror
by Leave It Alone Man 21
Summary: Thirteen year old Amity has gone from foster home to foster home in the ten years since her parents' death. Now she's going to live with the Mercers' and she'll find that she has a little something in common with one of them. Rated M for language
1. Chapter One

If there are reviews then I'll keep posting. Uhm... Oh yes.

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Four Brothers. If I did Jack would not have been shot.

A/N: This story has **NOTHING** to do with the movie The Amityville Horror.

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**Chapter one: Evelyn Mercer**

"Evelyn Mercer must be crazy to want this one."

Markus Peters leaned back in his desk chair and smiled at his colleague, who was sitting at his desk, smiling back. The guy, Jason Heater, shrugged. "Well she _did_ take in four of the worst cases we've seen yet. So, to call her crazy now is just an understatement."

Jason flipped a folder on his desk opened and looked at the information. It was all on Evelyn's four adopted sons'. "I mean the woman adopted Robert Rains, Jeremiah Brown, Angel Williams and Jackson Carter."

Markus laughed slightly and took a swig from a bottle of soda. "Well then she must think that she can take care of this one too." He said after swallowing of course.

Markus had the boys' separate files that held all their information. He already had one opened on his desk, but it wasn't a Mercers' file. As Markus read the information his eyes widened and he quickly grabbed another file. Jason watched as he flipped through the second file and paused. After a moment Markus looked up. "I can see why she wants to take this one in too." He closed the files and sighed. "This one is just like Jackson."

- - -

Evelyn Mercer slid her hands across the freshly made bed to get any wrinkles out and smiled at her work. She turned around to find her youngest son sitting Indian style on his bed. He had been watching silently as his whole room was moved around and turned upside down to make room for a new foster child. Since all the rooms in the home were taken, Jack had to share his room. He didn't enjoy it much, but in the end his opinion on the matter was ignored and a second bed and dresser were placed into his room.

Evelyn walked over to the bed and patted Jack's head. "Sweetie, I really think you'll like her. I would have put her in Molly's room otherwise."

Jack sighed and nodded. Molly was a foster child that was staying in one of the attic rooms of the Mercer house and Jack knew that Molly would have openly welcomed this new foster child, which is what made him wonder why his mother kept saying that he would like her. Jack didn't even know the girl's freakin' name! How was he supposed to like her if he knew next to nothing about her except that she was his age and she was a girl. It just did not make sense to him. Jack was determined to get an answer today, he pushed himself up and followed his mother. He followed her all the way to the kitchen, Bobby, Angel and Jerry were all lounged out in the living room, watching what Jack could only guess. Jack walked into the kitchen and sat himself at the table. Jack watched Evelyn as she started on lunch. "Mom?"

Evelyn looked over her shoulder slightly and smiled. "Yes Jackie?"

"What's her name? And why do you think I'll like her?"

Evelyn put the knife, that she had been using to spread mustard with, on the counter and turned around to face Jack. She smiled at his curiosity. "Her name is Amity De Luca. I think you'll like her because the two of you share life experiences."

Jack had a feeling that 'Life Experiences.' wasn't to be taken in a good way. He shook off the urge to ask more questions about this Amity De Luca. "Can I help you with lunch?"

Evelyn turned around and smiled. "Of course you can Jackie. You can set up the table and the counter."

Jack nodded and started setting plates of sandwiches, that Evelyn was done with, on the table. After a few minutes all the sandwiches were laid out and Evelyn called everyone. Of course Bobby, Jerry and Angel came running in and settled at the table, while Jack chose the counter. Moments later the two foster children that were staying with the Mercers' came running into the kitchen. Molly sat down next to Bobby and smiled at him. She and Bobby were the same age and it was obvious that she liked him, but no one could tell if Bobby liked her back or not. Alex was the second foster child. He took a seat at the counter, but he kept his distance from Jack, so there was a chair between the two. Jack glanced at Alex and saw that Alex was focusing on his drink. Jack inwardly sighed, the only reason Alex was afraid of him was because they had shared a room when Alex first came to live with them and Jack had woken up scared. Not being used to sharing his room, Jack freaked out and attacked Alex. After that they were separated and Alex had never spoken more than four words to Jack since then. That had been last year. And now as Jack sat there, his sandwich was in his hand and was half way to his mouth, he could only think about that night and hoped that it wouldn't repeat itself with this Amity De Luca girl. "Jack are you okay?"

Jack looked up to see everyone staring at him with worry written across their faces, he noticed that Alex had gotten up and squeezed himself over at the table. Jack looked down and noticed that he had dropped his sandwich. His eyes went back to Evelyn. "Um, why do you ask?" His voice came out sounding odd and quiet.

"You didn't answer my question. You had that lost look in your eyes. It worried me." Evelyn kept her gaze on Jack as he looked down at his plate, he was thinking of something to say so his mother wouldn't worry. "Um I was just thinking about this new foster child I guess..."

Evelyn nodded accepting that that was all she'd get from him on the subject. Before anyone else could speak the phone rang. Evelyn quickly answered.

- - -

Amity sat in the back of her social worker's car. She hated that car, it always had a weird smell that reminded her of one of her foster fathers'. She watched the dull scenery of Detroit pass by as Markus drove her closer to her new foster home. A knot grew bigger in her stomach with each minute that passed. She was afraid that this new home would be just like all the other ones'. "The house is right up here." Markus pointed to the street corner that was rapidly approaching. Amity couldn't help but shiver as her fear took over her mind. Before she knew it, they were parked outside the house and Markus had turned himself around as much as he could and was giving her the 'Be a Good Girl' speech. Amity subconsciously nodded, but she wasn't really listening to him. Markus sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "Amity, you're obviously not listening to me so, let's go."

Markus got out of the car and opened the door for Amity. She slid out, Markus snatched her bag and walked toward the house. Amity silently followed, her head hung low as she prepared herself for what could be more pain. Markus walked up a set of steps and through a screened in porch. Amity watched as Markus knocked on the door and waited. Moments later a woman opened the door with a bright, friendly looking smile. Her eyes went from Markus straight to Amity and Amity could have sworn that the woman's smile grew. The woman stepped aside and Markus walked into the front hallway of the house, Amity quietly followed. "Markus it's nice to see you again."

Markus nodded and muttered a 'You too.' Then he turned around and looked down at Amity. "This." He said, pointing to the woman. "Is Evelyn Mercer."

The woman or Evelyn, squatted down to Amity's level, she held out her hand. "You must be Amity."

Amity nodded slightly and took Evelyn's waiting hand. After their quick shake of hands, Evelyn stood up and faced Markus. "Well thank you for bringing her. I'll make sure to call if there are any problems. Though I doubt there will be."

Markus nodded curtly. "Well I doubt it as well, seeing as you've managed to keep your boys' under control."

Markus cleared his throat as Evelyn nodded. "Well I trust you've read her file and know what you're dealing with?"

Evelyn nodded again. "Well you should be going. Shouldn't you?"

Markus nodded and muttered a 'Good-bye'. He was gone after that, leaving Amity standing in the front hall with Evelyn. "Well, you must be hungry. So, let's go to the kitchen and I'll make you a sandwich and you can meet everyone else."

Evelyn started down a hallway and Amity quietly followed. When she walked into the kitchen she found five boys and one girl staring at her. Amity froze and she felt Evelyn place her hands on her shoulders, Amity flinched at the touch and Evelyn took her hands away just as quickly as she had put them there. Suddenly the boys and girl all stood up in a line, all facing Amity of course. "Guys, this is Amity. Amity, this is my oldest son, Bobby. He's eighteen."

This Bobby boy gave a lazy wave. He was the fourth tallest out of the six and he wore his brown hair slicked back. He also had on a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Amity could feel his brown eyes staring at her. His scowl told her to be careful around him. "And this is Molly, who's also eighteen. She was a foster child, like you, but she's eighteen now so, she is staying here on her own free will. "

Molly was at least two inches shorter than Bobby. She wore her long reddish brown hair in a pony tail, her brown eyes were kinder looking. She wore a long sleeved brown shirt that fit tightly around her upper half and of course she was wearing blue jeans, just like Bobby. "That is my second son, Jeremiah, he's seventeen."

Jeremiah smiled. "You can call me Jerry though." Amity nodded. Her first thought of Jeremiah was that he had pretty big teeth. But, like Molly he was nicer looking. He was black, so Amity knew that he was adopted. He was the tallest and was wearing overalls and a plade shirt. "That is my third son, Angel, he's sixteen."

Angel was also black. He was the second tallest and was wearing a light blue shirt with once again blue jeans. He, just like Jerry, had only smiled at Amity. "And that is Alex. He is a foster child too. He is fifteen."

Alex gave a small smile and a slight wave. He had black hair and looked a bit Asian to Amity. He was wearing cargo pants and a t-shirt. _Finally_, Amity thought. _Someone that isn't wearing jeans!_ There was only one more person left after Alex. Amity locked eyes with him as Evelyn spoke. "This is my fourth and youngest son, Jack. He too is thirteen."

Jack was the third tallest, which was taller than Amity. He was thin and almost scrawny looking compared to his brothers' who looked more built. His brownish blond hair looked as if he had just rolled out of bed and ran a hand through it. Amity's eyes left his blue green ones for a moment, he was wearing plade pajama pants and a t-shirt. _Okay, maybe he really did just get out of bed._ Amity's thought were interrupted by Evelyn's voice. "Amity? Would you like to get a tour of the house or have some lunch first?"

Amity shrugged. "Uh, I guess I'll take the tour."

Her voice was quiet and it was sort of scary to hear it. "It speaks!"

Amity's eyes went straight to Bobby who was smiling and had everyone laughing. Evelyn shot Bobby a glare and his smile disappeared as well as all the laughing. "Just for that you can give Amity the tour of the house. I have to go grocery shopping anyway."

Molly stood up and put her plate and cup in the sink as did Bobby who was muttering under his breath. "Evelyn, I'll go to the store with you if you'd like."

Evelyn nodded her head and they both left the kitchen, Evelyn gave Bobby a look before leaving the kitchen. Everyone else quickly put their dishes in the sink. Angel and Alex ran into another room, Jerry and Jack started to get the dishes ready so they could wash them. Amity heard Evelyn yell a 'Good-bye' and everyone yelled back, then she heard the door and knew that the woman was gone. "Remember to wash away every crumb fairy!"

Bobby started back into the front hallway, Jack's gaze went to Bobby's back and he yelled, "Shut up Bobby!" Bobby's amused laughter could be heard from the hallway. "Hey! Amity! You want a tour or not!?"

Amity's eyes widened a bit as her mental note came back to her. She quickly rushed into the hallway and found Bobby standing there. "Okay, so this is the front hallway or whatever you wanna call it."

He walked into a room and of course Amity followed. "This." He said. "is the living room. This is the first place you look if you wanna find me, Angel or Jerry."

The rest of the tour was basically the same. Bobby showed her the Dining room and then the Kitchen again. He showed her the back yard and the laundry room and the garage. He showed her the basement which was basically a huge play room type place for all the kids. There was also a bathroom in the basement which Amity found odd, but didn't question. Next was the second floor, there were six rooms on the second floor. Bobby went by each and named off which room was occupied by whom. Amity didn't really pay attention to who inhabited what room, in fact she only really knew that the bathroom was at the end of the hallway and next to it was Evelyn's room and Bobby's room was right after Evelyn's and to her dismay hers was after Bobby's. What bothered her even more was that when they opened the door to her room there were two beds. "Why are there two beds in here?"

Bobby looked at her and Amity immediately wished she hadn't asked. "Well that bed is yours." He pointed to a bed that was to the left when walking into the room. "And that is Jack's bed." He pointed to the bed right in front of them. Amity looked up at Bobby, hoping to find some trace of that being a joke, but she found nothing. She waited for a moment hoping that he would burst out laughing or something, but nothing happened. He just walked out of the room and across the hallway to a set of stairs. "Up there is the attic which was converted. Now there are two rooms up there which are taken by Alex and Molly." He turned around and started to the main stairs. "You can un-pack your shit if you want!" And then he too was gone.

Amity had never let go of her bag. She looked down at the dark blue duffel bag and then to the room that was now hers. She sighed and walked in. It didn't take long for her to un-pack her things since she had never felt the need to take many things from foster home to foster home. Amity decided to go back downstairs, she hoped Evelyn was home. As she descended the stairs, the sounds told her that Evelyn was not home. Once in the front hallway, Amity quickly looked into the living room and found Bobby and Alex on the couch. Bobby was cheering Jerry and Angel as they wrestled on the floor. Alex was about to fall on the floor from all the laughing he was doing. She quickly hurried into the kitchen and found Jack standing there with a scowl on his face, he was also muttering angrily to himself. "Why are you angry?"

Jack dropped the plate he had been scrubbing and soapy water splashed all over his shirt. His gaze went to Amity. "Don't do that!" He snapped, which made Amity close her eyes tightly. She opened her eyes after a moment and saw that Jack was trying to dry off his shirt with the towel, it wasn't doing much. Amity took in a breath and decided to try again. "Why are you angry?"

She watched as Jack pointed towards the living room. "_Jerry_ left me here to finish the dishes while he goes off and has all the goddamn fun."

Amity was silent and finally she spoke. "I could help you if you want."

Jack thought for a moment and moved over. Amity quickly took his place and they both decided that Jack would wash and Amity would rinse and place the dishes on the rack to dry. They didn't speak at all, they only listened to the cheers and laughter in the living room. Once they were done Jack started towards the stairs. Amity just stood there watching him. "Come on." Jack motioned for her to follow him and he started up the stairs. Amity quickly followed and they went straight to their room. Once there Jack went to close the door. "No."

Jack stopped and looked at Amity, she had a familiar fear in her eyes. "Can we leave the door opened?" Jack nodded and walked over to his bed, he grabbed a book from his nightstand and started reading it. Amity watched him for a moment before going over to her dresser. She opened the drawers and started moving all the clothes around over and over again. Jack noticed this and watched her. For the first time he noticed that, like him she was thin. She had brown hair that went just passed her shoulders, and icy blue eyes. Her skin had an olive tint to it. "Why does your skin look olive colored?"

Amity didn't look up, but continued with her re-organizing. "Because I'm Italian. At least that's what I've been told."

Jack nodded, silence fell over the room again and Jack tried to go back to his book, but he found it hard to do so when Amity was in the room. He found that he couldn't stop looking at her, he couldn't help, but watch her and take in everything that she did and every little detail on her looks. Finally another question formed in Jack's mind. "Do you have O.C.D. or something?"

Amity's eyebrows raised in a questioning way. "No." She said slowly. Jack pursed his lips in confusion. "Then why do you keep switching all your clothes around?"

A flash of shame went through Amity's eyes, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared. And in a quiet voice she said, "I'm trying to make it look like I have more than I really do."

Jack nodded, he understood her actions, he had once done the same exact thing. He got off his bed and grabbed a pair of jeans form his dresser. Before heading to the bathroom Jack said in a whispered voice, "I'll be downstairs if you need anything." With that said, he left Amity alone in their room.


	2. Chapter Two

I'd like to thank **Blackangle2011**, **kunoichiXwitch**, **tigerwhisper** and **Sweet-Romantic** for the reviews on Chapter one.

Disclaimer: Don't own Four Brothers.

Enjoy!

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Chapter two: You Can Sleep Soundly**

It had been three days since Amity had come to live with the Mercers' and in those three days, Evelyn had taken her out shopping for more clothes and some books as well as school things since she had transfered schools. It was also helpful that they were currently on Thanksgiving break and she could have time to get used to life in the Mercer home. Of course it was awkward for Amity to be sharing a meal with people that actually _wanted_ her to be there with them. It was even weirder having a meal that was hot and fresh. _Another perk I could get used to._ She thought. Amity had relaxed a bit in her few days at the Mercers', but she was still what normal people would consider paranoid. She felt herself in constant fear that they would all just snap and everything would end up as it had been with just about all her other homes. She sighed miserably as the memories of her past slowly filled her mind. She quickly blocked them, having no desire to have a night filled with screaming which hadn't happened so far. To help her concentrate, Amity tried to keep reading her book, but found that it was impossible. She suddenly felt the need to be alone and since Jack was sitting on his bed listening to a tape player, she didn't feel alone. Amity slammed her book closed and bolted for the bathroom, not even caring that Jack had noticed her and was yelling after her. She blocked out his yells and the sounds of feet hitting the stairs as a reaction of Jack's yells. Amity slammed the bathroom door and locked it just as she heard Bobby and Jack yelling for Evelyn. Her eyes closed and tears spilled down her cheeks. Amity fell against the door and slid to the floor, she knew that she was in trouble now. She could feel the anger in the air.

- - -

Pounding fists, making loud bangs as they contacted with the wooden door. Amity had hidden in the tub as soon as she felt the door vibrate with the contact. She closed her eyes tightly as more tears made small, salty streams down her cheeks. Suddenly the banging was silenced and she could hear Evelyn talking to an angered Bobby. Evelyn's voice was muffled, but Bobby's wasn't. "Bobby..."

That was all she heard as Evelyn's voice went down once she had Bobby's attention. "Ma! She's been in there for the whole fucking day! It is my problem now."

More distorted talking from Evelyn. Bobby growled slightly. "I thought you said that she was better than Jackie! You said that she didn't go through all the same shit that he went through!"

There was more muffled talking and suddenly a scream was heard. Amity stopped breathing at the sound of the scream. Seconds later came the slam of a door. "Oh for fuck sake! Not Jackie too!"

Amity instantly found herself picturing Molly. "Molly!" Evelyn said sternly.

Molly gasped slightly and more than likely apologized. Bobby's fist contacted with the door again and Amity felt herself jump. "Ma! I don't care if it's hurting her at all! This is nothing compared to what I'll do when I get my hands on her!"

Amity's blood went ice cold and her breath was caught in her throat. Panic mode took over and she felt herself get out of the tub and bolt to the window, in her fear she fumbled with the latch trying in pure desperation to open the window. She didn't even hear Evelyn screaming at Bobby, she also didn't hear the door open as Jerry had successfully picked the lock. Amity got the latch and pushed the window open, she was just about to pull herself up and through when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, she instantly screamed and tried to get away. The next thing she knew, her arms and legs were pinned to the tile floor and she heard herself whimper in fear, she kept her eyes tightly shut the whole time, just waiting for the pain to begin. Nothing happened, instead she felt herself being picked up and carried straight to her room, from what she could tell Jack hadn't locked the door, they were both left alone to calm down.

The room was dark, Amity laid in her bed as silence took over. Her eyes opened and she blinked a few times and wiped tears away. Jack's voice cut through the silence. "Bobby wasn't really going to hurt you ya know."

His voice mirrored the fact that he didn't believe what he had just said himself. "Then why did you freak out?" She asked.

"Memories." Jack bluntly stated. "How 'bout you? What made you lock yourself up?"

Amity felt a small smirk tug at her lips. "Memories." She said in the same exact tone as Jack had just moments before.

"What kind of memories?" Jack said, obviously ignoring her mimicking of him.

"The kind that you could never understand." Amity quickly snapped.

Jack felt a small smile form on his face. "Try me."

"I... you just wouldn't understand..." Amity heard Jack moving around in his bed, probably getting into a sitting position. He sighed. "Look, when I first came here I thought no one would understand what I was feeling either. So, I didn't tell Mom or my brothers' anything. A few months into my stay here, I just... snapped... and that landed me into the hospital. After that I told Mom everything and she helped me anyway she could."

He stopped. Amity heard a sniffle. _He's... crying?_ She looked toward his bed in the darkness, but couldn't see his face to be sure. "Today, watching you reminded me of when I first came here and all those feelings and memories came back. That's why I screamed when Bobby started yelling. I knew he didn't mean anything that he was saying, but it was like I couldn't control myself and I screamed anyway."

Jack sighed. "If you tell me what made you freak out, I could try to help you or have my Mom try and help you, but only if you let us in. We can't help unless we know what's wrong."

This was her chance to get everything off her chest, it was her chance to make all the memories bearable. She opened her mouth to speak, but felt something holding her back from spilling her soul to Jack. She sighed and felt more tears. _Uhg I need to control these tears._ "I'm sorry Jack. I just... I want to tell you, but..."

"You need to trust me first." Said Jack, finishing her sentence for her. Amity nodded even though Jack couldn't see her do so. "Yeah, I mean I've only been here for three days. Ya know?"

"Yeah... I know..."

There was silence again. "I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

Amity smiled, she didn't know why she felt that she should tell Jack this, since she wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon. Jack didn't say anything back. He just moved around in his bed and was silent. Some time went by and Amity laid there soaking up the sounds from downstairs. Someone had just come up the stairs and she heard a door from across the hallway close.

"I trust you though. It took a lot more than three days to trust my Mom and my brothers', but I trust you and it's only been three days."

Amity pursed her lips, blinked away tears and with a shaky sigh decided to open up to Jack. "I was born in Marquette, Michigan. On April 7, 1981. My parents' loved me and they were happy to have me. When I was three, they got into a car accident and they both died. I was then shipped south to Warren, Michigan to live with my aunt. I lived with her till I was six when the courts found out that not only was she not my aunt, but she was also addicted to crack. So, I was then put into the system and went to numerous foster homes. The average time that I spent in one home was six months. I've been all over Michigan for seven years." She stopped and laughed slightly. "I-I have a map of Michigan and there is a star next to each city I've been to so far. This is my first time here though..."

Amity heard Jack move around in his bed and she decided to sit up, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness and she could see Jack's outlined body sitting up in his bed too. "Life in the foster homes varied depending on the home and the people. Like when I was living with my 'aunt'" Amity made the finger quotations even though Jack couldn't see her do so. "she was really nice, she just acted weird around me cause of the crack, but she never hit me or yelled at me. Most of them weren't as nice though. They all seemed to have some sort of drug problem and I got hit a time or two, but mostly yelled at me and left me to fend for myself. When I turned nine all of that changed. I went to a home and the people didn't have any drug issues, they had real potential to be a good family and maybe adopt me... I trusted them and one night my foster father attacked me. H-he raped me and... and for a month after that he would repeat what he had done that night. Then my foster mother found out and I went to another home. They were no different, neither was all the homes after that, except for a few that went back to the druggie ways. I began to find myself wishing that the new family I was going to live with were druggies, at least they cared more about their drugs than how I looked in my pj's." The bitterness in her voice scared her, but she sighed and continued.

"The longest I spent in a home was a year and a half, from the age of ten to just after my twelfth birthday. That time was spent with a woman who was hopelessly addicted to Heroin, which I enjoyed almost as much as the memories of my parents'. Just days after my twelfth birthday I was placed in my last foster home before this one that is. For the first six months everything was perfect. I was treated like a child should be and I really thought life would work out for me. After my social worker stopped doing check ups, things got bad again. Oh my thirteenth birthday, my foster father tried to rape me, but I fought him. That landed me in the hospital, somehow they convinced everyone that I had gotten jumped by a gang on my way home from the store. A few more months went by and he tried it again. I of course fought back, not really wanting to be raped and the cops got called. My social worker came a got me from the hospital and drove me all the way from Grand Rapids, Michigan to here."

Jack was quiet, some of the things that she had been through, he could say that he too had been through them. But, as Bobby's words echoed in his mind, he realized that he was a lot worse than she was. "There, so I guess I trust you after all."

"Do you wanna hear my story?"

The quickness of Jack's question caught Amity off guard, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah."

Jack nodded and took in a breath. "Okay, well I was born in Lansing, Michigan. On March 31, 1981. So we are really close in age." He laughed slightly and Amity found herself laughing too. "Uhh, my mother was a single parent when I was born and she'd had two kids before me, my biological brother and sister. We all had the same shitfaced father who ran off with a pretty little blond, as I remember my mother calling her. When I was five my dad decided to come home and meet the son that he ran away from five years before. At first he didn't seem too bad, until he was supposed to pick me and my siblings up from school and he never showed up. We later found out that he had once again decided that fatherhood was not for him and ran off. My Mom was furious and vowed that he would never be welcomed into our lives again. When I was seven, he came home again and demanded that he see us, well my Mom was true to her word and kept us hidden from him. He was drunk and got angry, he ended up murdering my mother that night. My brother, being the oldest, called the police, who in turn took my dad away and locked him up for good. After that, my siblings and I were all split up. And for three years I went from foster home to foster home, getting every type of abuse that landed me in the hospital numerous times. I quickly learned that the only way I could stay alive was to obey my foster families and steal things when I needed to. When I was ten, I got caught stealing food and shit. The police quickly found out why I was stealing things, so they told my social worker who in turn brought me to live here with Mom and my brothers'. I was officially calling her Mom at the age of twelve."

"Was your birth mother a good person?"

Amity found the question leave her lips before she could do anything to stop it. "No." Jack said quietly. "She was never home and was always saying shit about my father, but he deserved that. It just got her really angry and she would end up leaving and would come home drunk." Jack shrugged. "She worked a lot to keep our house and give us a better life. My father fucked it all up though."

Jack was quiet, she watched as he laid back down and turned so he was facing the wall. Amity decided to do the same. Even though they had just poured their hearts out to each other, Amity still felt that Jack might have just made up a story to get her trust. That made Amity lay in bed wide awake the whole night.

- - -

The next morning, Amity quietly got out of bed when she heard signs that people were awake. Jack wasn't, which she was thankful for. She quietly made her way down the stairs to find the three mercer brothers' and Alex all lounged on the couch. Somehow they all knew she was there and looked over, she froze as they watched her, they then turned their attention back to the tv and Amity quickly went to the kitchen. She found Evelyn at the stove and Molly sitting at the table, drinking some coffee. "Oh, good morning Amity."

Amity was expecting to get drilled with questions about the night before, but they were all acting as if it didn't happen, this behavior puzzled her. "Amity? Have you been sleeping a lot sweetie?"

The sound of four boys' running up the stairs could be heard as Amity debated on whether she should tell the truth or not. She looked at Evelyn for a moment and decided that Evelyn wouldn't hurt her for it. "No. I haven't slept since I got here." She quietly confessed.

"Oh my... sweetie why not?" Evelyn had worry laced in her voice, it was sort of shocking to Amity to have someone, whom she had only known for four days now, being worried about her. Amity's eyes went to the ground. "I-I'm... afraid that Jack will...hurt me."

Evelyn squatted down in front of Amity and chuckled. "Oh Amity, you can sleep soundly dear. If anything Jack is afraid that you will hurt him."

Evelyn's words hit Amity like a ton of bricks. _I really can trust Jack._ She decided. She sighed in relief as Evelyn smiled and went back to the stove.

Jack's fingers were curled around the wooden poles that held the stair railing up. His three brothers' sat around him smiling and whispering about the conversation they had all just heard. Bobby put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Hey, Jackie. Don't look so fuckin' shocked, man. She ain't gonna be afraid of you anymore and you don't have to be a little fairy around her."

Jack's head spun around and he glared at Bobby. "I'm not a fairy!" He said through gritted teeth. Bobby smiled and patted his back. "Sure Jackie, you keep telling yourself that."

Jack pushed past his brothers' and stomped down the stairs and into the kitchen, leaving Bobby, Angel and Jerry laughing on the stairs. _Thank god school starts tomorrow._ Was all Jack could think as he sat down next to Amity.


	3. Chapter Three

Okay, I would like to thank **samantha hockeychick08** and **kunoichiXwitch** for the reviews on chapter two.

Disclaimer: Never will own the people from the movie. Sigh.

Enjoy Chapter Three!

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**Chapter Three: New School, New Friends.**

"Jackson Mercer get your motherfuckin' ass up now!"

"Man don't call me by that name." Jack sleepily mumbled.

Amity sat up. She looked up to see Bobby open the curtains of the window next to Jack's bed, thankfully it was still dark out. He then did the same to the window near Amity's bed and looked at her. "Rise and shine Amity"

She nodded and stumbled out of bed. Last night had been the first night that she had slept in four days. Quite frankly it was the best night of her life. She tiredly made her way to the bathroom and closed the door just as Bobby's yells reached her ears again. She went to the bathroom and jumped into the shower, she felt herself rushing through her shower since she wasn't sure how much time she had before school and she didn't want to keep the bathroom occupied too long. Amity was just shampooing her hair when there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Amity you gotta hurry up for school!"

"Okay." She yelled as she quickly finished up and ran to her room since she only had a towel around her body. Jack wasn't in there room when Amity got there, which she was thankful for. Amity quickly put on a new pair of black jeans and a navy blue shirt with a penguin on it and then she grabbed a zip-up sweat shirt and her bag and made her way down the stairs. Just as she walked into the kitchen she saw that the time was 6:45. "Oh there you are Amity!"

Amity sat down at the table and smiled at Evelyn. "Sweetie, I suggest that you shower in the evenings. It gives you more time in the morning."

Amity nodded as she quickly started eating the waffle that Evelyn had set down in front of her. She looked around and furrowed her eyebrows. "Where is everyone?"

Bobby looked up from the newspaper and looked around as if he didn't even notice that half the population that made up the Mercer home was in fact MIA. Bobby lazily shrugged. "I dunno."

Molly set her coffee cup down. "Angel, Jerry and Alex are all in High School so, they all took the bus to the High School, except for Jerry that is, since he drives his girlfriend to school. I currently attend the Community College which is close to the Middle School so, I drive Jackie to school and now I'll drive you as well."

Amity put the last of her waffle in her mouth and nodded. "Speaking of school." Evelyn said as she removed the plates from the table and glanced at the clock. "You all have to get going."

The next thing Amity knew they were all walking to Molly's car. "Now, Bobby will pick you up from school today since Molly works after school. If he isn't there, which he should be." Evelyn looked back at the house where Bobby was watching from a window. "Then call me at work. Jackie has my number." She said while laying a hand on Jack's shoulder. Evelyn took her hand away and walked over to Amity, she squatted down and started adjusting Amity's coat. "Now, I want you and Jack to stay close to each other when you can and don't be afraid to talk to kids and make friends. If you feel at all overwhelmed just have Jack take you to the Nurse and she'll call me or Bobby since he is currently jobless and will be at home all day. Okay?"

Amity could only nod as she was rushed into the back of Molly's car with Jack. As soon as the car was on it's way to school, a conversation was started between Jack and Molly. "So, Mol are you and Bobby dating yet?"

Molly's brown eyes went to the rear view mirror. "No Jack. You know Bobby has a love interest at the moment anyway."

"Psh, well I know you two have been doing it. And you should really be careful cause you're starting to sound like Angel and Sofi." Jack smiled.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Jackie-poo, first of all. Bobby and I have never done it so, you have us confused with Angel and Sofi. Secondly if Bobby and I ever decided to do it, we would pick my room so Evelyn wouldn't know what we were doing. So, you wouldn't be able to hear us anyway. And, like I said before Bobby has a love interest at the moment."

The car slowed to a stop at a red light. "Why would you want to hide your relationship from Mom? She has been waiting for you two to do it for like ever. She'd be pretty pleased if I do say so myself." Jack shrugged. "Besides do you really think this girl is gonna stay with Bobby? He never has a girlfriend for more than a few weeks because they can't handle him and the way he acts. But, you would be a perfect match for him cause you've dealt with his shit for what? A year now?" Molly nodded and Jack continued. "So, you know how to act around him and how to respond. But, the two of you are too blind to see this I guess."

Molly stopped at another red light. "Jackie, I've only known him for a year. Any of his friends could know the same amount that I know about him."

Jack shook his head. "No, he's always the tough guy around them," Jack paused. "Actually he's the tough guy around everyone, except for you and Mom. He calms slightly for the two of you. But, anyway, my point is that in the one year you've known him you know more about him than any of his girlfriends' or his friends'. That's how I know that you are perfect for each other."

"Can we stop talking about this Jack?" Molly said, obviously upset about the conversation.

Jack looked a bit shocked by her request, but nodded anyway. Amity's attention went back to what was out the window and she couldn't help, but think about how people would act around her and if she would be excepted. Amity felt like she was a little kid again, starting kindergarten for the first time and feeling all the fear and anxiety that came with it.

- - -

Bobby sat across from his mother at the kitchen table. They were both silently sipping coffee. This was their down time, since Evelyn didn't have to leave for work until eight and Bobby would be home alone for just about the whole day. "She's better than I expected her to be."

Evelyn took a sip of her coffee as Bobby nodded. "I mean, after Jackie's freak outs, things would go back three steps and we'd have to coax him out of his shell again."

Bobby nodded again. "I think they are secretly helping each other though."

"What makes you think that?" Evelyn asked as she raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Bobby shrugged. "Jackie reacted just like Amity did after they freaked out. It only took him a night to get better and we didn't even have to get him out of his shell."

Evelyn smiled, her blue eyes twinkled. "Then maybe it was a good idea putting them together."

"So, how do you think she'll do today?" Bobby asked with a smile.

"I think she'll be okay once the day gets going. Besides Jackie is with her and I'm pretty sure they have bonded a bit since she has been living here."

Bobby nodded and they were silent. Evelyn sighed and stood up, she walked over to the coffee maker and poured more coffee for herself. "Bobby? When Jerry and Angel come home, can you please tell them to bring Camille and Sofi home early if they do bring them here?"

"Yeah sure. Why?"

Evelyn sat back down at the table. "Because Markus is coming to check up on Amity and see how we're treating her and everything." That angered Bobby a bit.

"Why the fuck is he doing that!? He knows you're trustable!" Anger rose in Bobby's voice with each word. Evelyn just waited for him to finish before speaking in a calm soothing way. "Bobby, sweetie, Markus knows that we're trustable, but it's the law that he has to check up on foster kids for at least a month. Whether the people are indeed trustable or not. You know that."

Bobby glared at the salt shaker on the table. He wasn't sure why his anger was bubbling up within him, but he knew it was slowly taking over his senses. He barely even felt Evelyn take his hand into hers. His brown eyes flicked to her soft, kind blue ones. "Bobby, what did the salt shaker do to make you look at it that way?"

Bobby couldn't help, but smile. If there was one person that could get him to at least look slightly happier when he was angry it was Evelyn. "Ma, I'm... I just don't like that Markus has to come check up on us, that's all."

Evelyn smiled and stood up. "Oh honey I know and I think it's ridiculous too. But, as I said before it is the law and we don't want Markus to get fired. After all he's told me about all the kids that I've fostered and he's told me about you and your brothers'." Bobby nodded as Evelyn turned and looked at the clock, she pursed her lips and turned back to Bobby. "Oh, sweetie. I'm afraid that I have to go. We'll talk more later if you'd like and please don't forget to tell Jerry and Angel about tonight. You might as well announce it to the whole house. Oh and it would be nice if you could call Molly when she get's to work and tell her too."

"Yes, Ma. I'll make sure to tell everyone about our social worker friend's visit." Bobby nodded.

"That's all I ask." Evelyn smiled as she spoke. She then left the kitchen yelling her good-bye to Bobby. And Bobby was left alone.

- - -

Once they had walked into the school Jack and Amity went straight to the office so Amity could get her schedule. Then they went to the 8th grade wing of the school to find Amity's homeroom and get a locker for all her books. They weaved through small groups of friends who were catching up on what they did over thanksgiving break. Amity had seen it many times before since she had been in 6th grade, but she had never experienced it for herself. Jack looked over at Amity. "Are the 7th graders _that _interesting?"

Amity looked over at Jack and rolled her eyes. "No, I was watching their groupness." Jack's response was a blank stare. Amity sighed. "I mean, I've never had that. I've never come back from a break and had a group of friends to talk to."

Jack nodded. A moment went by and he smiled. "Well from now on you will get that everyday."

Amity raised her eyebrows as Jack stopped outside a classroom and looked at the number. "This is it." Amity looked into the room, the lights where on and some sunlight was peeking through the trees that were only a few feet away from the windows. There were books on just about every desk, yet not one soul was in the room. "Where is everyone?"

"Hey, not all those kids in the hallway are 6th and 7th graders ya know." Jack said with a slight hint of humor in his voice. "Can I help you?"

Jack and Amity turned around to find a young Hispanic looking teacher standing there. Jack smiled. "Hi, Mrs. Gomez. Before vacation I told you that you were going to get a new student. Well this is her." Jack said while pointing to Amity, who in turn waved at the teacher and smiled slightly. The teacher nodded and smiled. "Ah yes I remember. Well I'm your Spanish teacher Mrs. Gomez and you are..."

"Amity. Uhm this is my homeroom too right?" Amity spoke slowly, she was getting a good vibe from this teacher so far, but she wasn't about to provoke her. Mrs. Gomez nodded. "Yes it is." She then turned to Jack. "Are you going to be showing her around for her first day?"

Jack nodded and the teacher walked over to her desk and returned with a lock. "Here," She said. "you'll need to obviously memorize that combination and try not to lose this piece of tape."

Amity nodded and they left. Jack had taken her lock and was looking at the numbers. He laughed. "Your locker is right near mine. I mean there is a locker between us, but you're close enough." He said with a shrug as Amity started emptying the contents of her bag.

- - -

School ended up being a lot better than Amity had imagined. She had figured that people would give her dirty looks and whatnot, but no one really even noticed her until she got to classes that is. Her teachers' had also been better than she had expected. They didn't humiliate her by making her get up in front of the class tell them a little something about her, they just told her where to sit and would start droning about projects that were due or whatever they were planning on teaching that week. Most of the time Amity ended up sitting in Jack's general area. All the teachers' had their classrooms set up so the kids were seated by their behavior and of course Jack was always at the end so, there were always extra seats near him. Amity didn't mind being placed in what the students called the "Bold children" section, she felt that it was starting a reputation for her and she liked that.

She had all but two classes with Jack, which was okay with her. The only thing that Amity was sort of dreading was making friends. Yes, she did have Jack and his two friends Adam and Donnie, but she knew that eventually she'd have to befriend girls as well. But, girls' could be cruel, at least the ones she had met had been cruel. That changed during fifth period. It was health class, tomorrow would be Gym. It was an every other day thing. And in health class they were in the middle of a project, there was a limit on groups and every group had the maximum limit of three people, even Jack's group. This left Amity to pair off with the only group of two. CaraLynn and Hannah were their names and they had been best friends since the 6th grade but, they gladly welcomed Amity. They had even invited her and Jack and his friends to sit with them since CaraLynn and Hannah sat alone.

- - -

"Evelyn today was great! Jack and I combined our friends and now we have a whole group of friends! It's really great! I've never had this many friends and I really enjoy it. I really do." Evelyn laughed. "Well Amity I didn't know you could be such a talker. And from the sound of it you seem fairly charismatic."

Amity nodded. This new feeling of normalcy was great and she loved it. She loved being like a normal kid that had friends and went to school and talked to people about things. Amity had never let this side of her out before, it was strange new territory for her but, she was enjoying this new Amity.

img src"http://i4.


	4. Chapter Four

Alright, I would like to thank **Blackangle2011**, **kunoichiXwitch**, **samantha hockeychick08** and **Sweet-Romantic** for the reviews on Chapter three.

Disclaimer: Still don't have ownage of those Mercer boys'.

Enjoy Chapter Four!!

* * *

**Chapter Four: Bobby's Affect**

Time had past quickly. To Amity it felt like she had gone to sleep in December and woke up to it being March. In that time period, she had become very close to her new friends and she found that all her past fears had disappeared. In these few months her clothing style had changed as well as Jack's and their friends CaraLynn, Hannah, Adam and Donnie. They had all worn mostly black or darker clothing, but soon that's all they wore. They all had taken on what most would call the punk rocker look. And kids at their school had taken to calling the group "the wannabe rock stars", which none of them minded. The girls had taken to wearing black eyeliner and colorful eye shadows, as well as studded belts and wallet chains. The boys were basically the same except that they didn't wear make-up and they made sure their hair was always spiked. What was most shocking to the Mercers' was when the whole group walked into the house to go hang out in the basement. Evelyn had been so proud that both Jack and Amity had friends, since the three oldest Mercers' had un-kindly expressed that they didn't believe Amity or Jack when they had told Evelyn about Amity's first day three months before.

That had happened in the beginning of March, it was now the end of the month and in a few days would be Jack's birthday and a week later would be Amity's birthday.

"Jackie what do you want to do for your birthday?"

Jack was sitting at the kitchen table as his mother worked on baking a cake for him. He shrugged. "I don't know. Probably just do the usual."

Evelyn nodded. "Okay, no party then?" She smiled and looked over at Jack, his eyebrows were raised questioningly. "Mom, I haven't had a party since I was ten."

"I know, Jackie. I was only kidding." Evelyn said as Amity walked into the room and sat down across from Jack. "I mean, you have a party when you turn four, not fourteen."

"I never had a party at the age of four and... Jack, why did you have a party when you turned ten then? I mean if you supposedly only have parties at the age of four." Amity smiled to show that she didn't mean anything by asking the question. Jack just made a face at her. "Because I didn't know better and I hadn't had a party in years by that point."

Amity rolled her eyes. "Bobby told you it was girly, didn't he?" Sure Amity had only been there for a few months, but she had learned a lot about all the inhabitants of the Mercer home in those few months.

Jack glared at her. "No! Bobby has nothing to do with that!" Amity smiled. "Jack, sometimes you really shouldn't listen to Bobby."

Evelyn nodded. "Amity is right, Jackie." Jack sighed slightly. "Well I still don't want a party." He mumbled.

"Well then, Amity would you like one. Because you haven't had one?" Evelyn looked over at Amity as she thought. Finally she shook her head. "I don't need a party. Just hearing people say Happy Birthday to me and mean it would work, it would also help if it is said on my birthday and not five months after."

Evelyn closed the oven door and walked over to the table, she seated herself next to Amity and smiled. "You don't need to worry about that dear. We are on top of birthdays' in the Mercer home, right Jackie?"

Jack nodded and stood up. "Where are you going Jackie?" Evelyn looked at the boy with concern, Jack just pointed to the ceiling. "I'm gonna go upstairs, I feel kinda weird for some reason."

Evelyn frowned. "Are you feeling sick Jackie? Maybe you should sleep and see how you feel when you wake up." Amity looked at Jack and when she thought about it he did look a lot paler. Jack nodded again and left the kitchen. Evelyn stood up and left as well, leaving Amity alone. Bobby walked into the kitchen and grabbed a soda from the fridge. He looked over at Amity and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Amity looked up at him. "What?"

He shrugged. "Why are you sittin' there lookin' all depressed?"

"I'm not depressed. I was just thinking." She said slowly as if she was making it up as she went along. Bobby noticed this, but said nothing about it. Amity was glad that he hadn't asked more about it, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to tell Bobby that she had been thinking about how cute Jack looked in the shirt he was wearing.

Bobby looked around the kitchen. "Where's Ma... and Jack for that matter?"

"Jack went upstairs cause he might be sick and Evelyn must have gone up to check on him." Bobby smiled at that. "The fairy probably needs Ma to tuck him into bed or some shit." Amity frowned as Bobby laughed. "Ya know, he doesn't like it when you call him a fairy, Bobby."

Bobby stopped laughing and looked down at Amity. "Of course he does! He just acts like it bothers him to impress you." Amity rolled her eyes. "Yeah sure Bobby." Bobby laughed and walked out of the kitchen.

Amity got up and followed, just as she sat down beside Bobby, Evelyn came down the stairs. They both looked at her. "Bobby, can you go upstairs and watch Jackie please?" Bobby set his soda down on the coffee table and nodded as he stood up. "Be careful, Bobby. There's sort of a mess in the hallway." Bobby stopped and looked at his mother, she smiled slightly at his expression. "Just step over it sweetie." She said as she patted Bobby's shoulder.

Evelyn looked over at Amity. "Jackie is probably going to be staying upstairs, so you can sleep down here if you'd rather not share a room tonight." Amity nodded. "Do you think he'll be okay for school tomorrow?"

"I don't really think so." Amity nodded again and sat down on the couch. Evelyn walked into the kitchen to get the mop and a bucket.

- - -

Bobby folded his arms across his chest and leaned himself against the door frame of the bathroom. Jack had himself leaned over the toilet bowl, his mouth was opened slightly as he couldn't breath through his nose because of the smell. Bobby's scowled face was twisted into an uncomfortable look, it was obvious he didn't want to be there, then again Jack didn't want to be there just as much, maybe even more than Bobby. Jack's stomach was empty, now he would only spit, in an attempt to get rid of the terrible taste in his mouth.

"Here, I'll get you something to drink okay?" Bobby's voice echoed with concern that Jack had very rarely heard before, he nodded meekly and Bobby was gone before anything else could be said. Jack smiled slightly at his brother's speed to get away from the bathroom as he slowly let himself fall back on his bum and let his back line up parallel with the tiled wall.

Jack looked into the hallway and saw his mother, she walked into the bathroom and handed him a glass which was full of what he assumed, by it's color, to be Ginger Ale. "Jackie, take this and then go to your room and try to sleep." Jack nodded and Evelyn walked into the hallway to clean up. Jack took a drink from the glass and swished the bubbly liquid around his mouth. He spit it out and did that two more times, he then flushed the toilet and walked past his mother and into his room. He found a bucket by his bed and an un-opened can of Ginger Ale on his nightstand. Jack sighed and closed his bedroom door, he quickly stripped down to his boxers and changed into a t-shirt. Jack fell onto his bed and pulled the covers over his body so only part of his head was sticking out.

There was a light knock on the door and it opened. Jack felt himself squeeze his eyes shut, though he wasn't sure why. "Jackie? Honey, I know you're awake. If you need anything just come get me. Okay?" Jack nodded his head and Evelyn left closing the door behind her. Jack laid there for a few minutes before the warmth of his bed lulled him into sleep.

- - -

"Well, Amity you'd might as well help me with dinner. Jerry and Angel are having Sofi and Camille over for dinner and I believe Bobby is having... oh what is her name?" Amity smiled, it seemed that no one in the Mercer home paid much attention to Bobby's girlfriend. "Her name is Jessica."

Evelyn nodded as she took chicken out of the freezer. "Ah yes. I don't see her enough to remember her name."

"None of us like her either, Evelyn." Evelyn made a tutting sound. "Now, Amity you can't judge her. You don't know enough about her to judge her and it isn't that I don't like her, I just don't know very much about her." Amity let her eyes fall to the floor. "I know, I just think that Jack was right about Bobby and Molly, that's all." Evelyn laughed. "Sweetie, we all think that about Bobby and Molly."

The back door opened and Jerry walked in with Camille by his side. They were both laughing about something. Amity smiled as they both said their hello's, she had become fairly close to Camille as well as Sofi and Molly, in her few months at the Mercers'. They were like the sisters' Amity never had, just as the Mercer brothers' were the brothers' she'd never had. Jerry and Camille kissed, then Jerry left the kitchen to watch tv with Bobby while Camille stayed in the kitchen to help with dinner. Soon everyone else came home, except Bobby's girlfriend. All the women were in the kitchen talking and working on dinner, while all the guys were in the living room. Amity set up the table as Camille and Sofi set out different dishes. "Amity, will you go check on Jackie and see if he'd like to join us?"

Amity was reluctant, but nodded and left the kitchen, she hurried up the stairs and slowly walked toward the room she shared with Jack. Amity was ready to bolt back down the stairs at the slightest hint that Jack was getting sick. There were somethings that Amity feared and being around people that were sick was one. It was stupid, but Amity couldn't help herself, from a young age she would avoid people if they had been sick. It had gotten her in trouble many times before and she was so grateful when Evelyn had suggested she sleep on the couch that night. Amity slowly opened the door, it was dark in their room, the only light came from the hallway light. Amity let out a breath when she could only smell her favorite perfume and Jack's favored body spray, which was Axe.

"Jackie." Amity whispered as she touched Jack's back lightly. "Jack Attack, wake up." Amity smiled and felt herself quietly giggle at the nickname she had given Jack after he had beat up a kid who had been harassing Amity at their school. Jack's head lifted up slightly and he twisted his body so he could see her better. He blinked sleepily. "School, right?"

Amity shook her head. "No, Jack. Evelyn sent me up to see if you wanna come down and eat."

Jack was quiet and shook his head. "I'll probably get sick again. The smells from downstairs are making me nauseous." Amity's eyes widened a bit and she felt herself subconsciously step back. Jack noticed this and frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Please, Jack. If you're going to be sick, please don't miss the bucket or at least give me a warning." Jack's eyebrows furrowed. "Amity, even if I do get sick, there's only two sips of soda in my stomach, if its still there, and the most I'll do is gag or spit up."

"Still..." Amity said quietly as her eyes fell and found the carpet. "Does that bother you?" Amity laughed nervously. "Very much so."

Jack felt himself smile. "Then we better never have kids together." Amity's gaze shot up to him.

"Because it bothers me too." Jack quickly explained. Amity nodded slowly, then Evelyn's voice echoed up the stairs. "Uh, I'm going to go..."

Jack nodded as Amity closed the door, she quickly descended the stairs and Evelyn watched her. "Jackie isn't coming. He thinks he'll get sick again." Evelyn nodded and they both walked into the dining room and sat down. It amazed Amity that that amount of people could somehow fit comfortably at the table. They all stood up and said grace, like always, and then dug into the huge meal. Everyone around her was eating and talking, but Amity found that she couldn't talk and enjoy herself, her thoughts were plagued with Jack. _Why am I thinking about him so much today?_ She thought. This was new to her and she couldn't understand it. If only she knew that Jack had been plagued by the same thoughts that had him just as puzzled, only he'd had to dream about Amity too.

After dinner everyone sort of just hung out and talked, soon Amity felt her eyes getting heavy and since it was still early-ish, Amity sighed and headed up the stairs. No one really seemed to notice that she had gone, if they had, they said nothing. Amity didn't mind though, she went straight to her room, she had totally forgotten that Jack was in there and in the darkness started changing into pj's, she had just taken her shirt off when the light by Jack's bed went on. Amity spun around, they both gasped. Amity grabbed her converse and threw it, Jack ducked quickly and it hit the wall, making a loud bang.

"Goddammit, Jack! Turn the fucking light off!" Jack obeyed and they were plunged into darkness. Amity quickly finished changing and jumped into bed. "Oh my god! I can't believe you!"

Jack sat up. "You can't believe me!? You knew I was in here! And it was dark in case you didn't notice so how the fuck would I know if you were changing or not!?"

"Well excuse me for being a little upset about the fact that you just saw me half naked! God! Now you're probably going to rape me or some twisted shit like that!" Amity stopped and realized what she had said.

Angry didn't even begin to describe how Jack was feeling. "Rape you!? Amity, did you forget that I was raped too!? I thought we got over this!? I'd never rape you! I can't! I wouldn't even think to!" Neither of them realized that the rest of the Mercers' had come up the stairs to investigate when they heard the bang that Amity's converse had made and they could hear the whole fight.

"If you've been through the same shit that I have than you know that words mean nothing, Jack!" Jack nodded his head in the darkness. "Yeah I do know that. But, you can trust me! If I was going to rape you, I would have done it way back in November! But, I did nothing! Nothing! So, you can stop worrying about it cause I'm not going to do anything to you!"

They were both quiet and the rest of the Mercer home waited in silence, some of them wanted to walk in the room and stop the fighting, but Evelyn shook her head. They needed this to take away any of the remaining awkwardness or tension between the two.

"If it makes you feel any better, you can walk in on me pissing." Amity sat up in bed and looked in Jack's direction. "Why the fuck would I want to see that, Jack!? It's disgusting!" Jack sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. One... of my foster father's used to get turned on by that. He'd walk in on me just to see that. It was really creepy." Jack laughed. Sure he had bad memories from his time at that guy's house, but it sounded funny with the current situation. Soon he could hear Amity laughing too.

"It isn't funny, but I can't help but laugh!" Amity said as tears formed in her eyes from all the laughing. Jack laughed and nodded. "I know!"

Soon their laughter died down and it was silent in the room once again. Everyone in the hallway smiled and went back down the stairs. Amity felt herself laugh. "What are you laughing about?" Jack asked.

"Jackie you should have waited until we were sixteen. You would have gotten a better view." Amity giggled at the thought and Jack laughed quietly. "So, are you feeling better Jack?"

"Yeah, but I think I'm gonna stay home tomorrow, just to be safe." Jack frowned as Amity chuckled. "You just wanna stay home cause Bobby will be there." Bobby had only recently gotten a job at a local bar, and he worked at night so all day he was home. He'd keep things that way until hockey season, then he'd be all over the country for games.

"No!" Jack denied. "I just don't feel like puking in school." He said, hesitantly.

Amity nodded. "Okay Jackie, okay. Now, why don't we try this new thing called sleep? Hmm?" Jack chuckled and settled into his bed, as did Amity.

"Goodnight Amity." Jack said quietly as they heard people going to their rooms for the night outside the door. Amity smiled. "Goodnight Jack." She said just as quietly.

- - -

Amity got out of bed and tiptoed over to Jack's bed. It had been five days since Jack had been sick and now it was the morning of his birthday. She smiled and poked the side of Jack's head. "Jack Attack, wakey wakey." Jack's eyes opened and he blinked a few times. He pulled his head back slightly. "Can I help you?"

Amity shrugged. "Not really... Oh! Happy birthday, Jackie!" Jack smiled sleepily. "Thanks, Amity." Amity nodded and left Jack alone to get ready for school.

"Eww, do I have to go to school today?" Jack looked at his mother with pleading eyes, but Evelyn just shook her head. "Jackie, you stayed home once this week already! You can't stay home again." Jack nodded his head sadly and went back to his breakfast.

Even though Jack was bummed about having to attend school on his birthday, the day ended up going by very quickly and they found themselves free from school. Once Evelyn came home, she set to work making dinner, which was chosen by Jack. Only the Mercers' and Amity and Molly were present at Jack's birthday since Sofi and Angel had gotten into a fight and were broken up. Camille had to go have dinner with her grandmother and Alex had been put into a Juvenile Correction Facility, because he had been caught with drugs in school. There wasn't much Evelyn could do when it came to it because his social worker had placed him into a new home and that family had decided to send him to the Facility. Despite having people missing, Jack's birthday still went well and no one really minded that people were missing.

- - -

"Amity!" Jack yelled. He had been fourteen for a week and now it was Amity's birthday. Amity sat up and her tired eyes fell onto Jack, he was smiling at her. "Happy Birthday." Amity felt an over whelming need to hug Jack and that is what she did. Jack instantly stiffened up and of course Amity felt herself stiffen slightly so, she pulled away. "Uhm, sorry Jackie. I uh..." She laughed nervously. "haven't had anyone say that to me in like eleven years now."

Jack shrugged and nodded. "I know. It's okay." Amity smiled, got out of bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for the day. The day was perfect, on the morning announcements for the Middle School, they would announce who was celebrating their birthday that day and Amity's was the only one for April 7th so all day she kept hearing people say Happy Birthday to her and it was nice.

As for a birthday dinner, Amity was going to choose Evelyn's baked chicken, like Jack had, but she quickly found that the more things the two of them did together, the more Bobby teased them about dating and whatnot. It embarrassed her and she could only wonder if that's how Jack felt when he was on the receiving end of Bobby's teasing.

"You still want chicken right Amity?" Evelyn looked over at the newly turned fourteen year old, Amity shook her head. "I changed my mind if that's okay?"

Evelyn smiled as Jack walked in. "Sure sweetie. What did you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking of spaghetti." Evelyn nodded and started gathering all the things for spaghetti. Jack closed the refrigerator door and set down two cans of soda on the table. He smiled at Amity as she nodded her thanks. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Amity, you really shouldn't listen to Bobby."

Amity glared at Jack as he laughed and stood up. "Hey I was just tellin' you a little something I heard a few weeks ago." He said as he walked out of the kitchen.

Amity rolled her eyes and noticed Evelyn looking at her. "Is there something going on that I should know about?" Amity didn't really want to talk about what Bobby had been joking about, because it was true, at least the some of it. But, one look at Evelyn's soft blue eyes made her mouth involuntarily open and she spilled everything. "Bobby, has been teasing Jack and I. Saying that we should be dating and singing that stupid song. Ya know that song where they spell out the word 'kissing'." Evelyn nodded. She was all too familiar with that song thanks to Bobby's teasing.

"Amity, I will speak with Bobby about his teasing habits if you'd like me too." Amity shook her head. "No, I'll just tease him." Evelyn smiled as she shook her head and went back to dinner.

Amity's birthday dinner went like Jack's, except that Camille was able to join them. And she, to her surprise, received presents just like Jack had. Though she shouldn't have been surprised since she got presents on Christmas too, but she still was. That night Amity went to sleep with a smile on her face and she finally believed that things would be okay.


	5. Chapter Five

Thanks to **Sweet-Romantic** and **Dragon Rider Murtagh** for the reviews on chapter four.

Okay, I'm sorry for not updating in a little while. I had to get different writing software so my story would show up and I had exams and a little bit of writer's block. The next few chapters will have some drama and voilence and all that good stuff.

Disclaimer: If I owned these boys, I wouldn't be here writing about them.

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**Chapter Five: Hockey With Four Brothers.**

It was June. Bobby celebrated his nineteenth birthday on the 5th and Angel would be celebrating his seventeenth birthday on the 27th. Bobby had come home from his first hockey season with a minor league team, of course Jack was excited when Bobby returned. Even though Bobby never stopped with the gay jokes, it was obvious that Jack looked up to him.

Bobby had been home for a week and a half. It was Saturday, Amity and Jack were seated on the couch, while Angel sat in a chair and Jerry sat in the other chair. They were all watching TV when Bobby's work boots could be heard on the stairs and then he was standing in the entry way to the living room smiling at all of them. They all slowly looked up at him with puzzled looks and he pulled out his hockey stick from behind his back. Jerry sighed and stood up, Angel frowned. "Damn Bobby! You ain't sick of hockey yet!?"

Bobby laughed as Amity and Jack stood up and followed Jerry upstairs to retrieve their own hockey gear. Amity took her skates and stick out from under her bed and a memory filled her mind.

- - -

_Amity raced down the stairs, behind Jack and smiled when she saw all the presents piled under the Christmas tree. She had never had the pleasure of decorating one and had enjoyed helping Evelyn and Jackie. Evelyn walked out of the kitchen and the rest of the house congregated in the living room. Amity sat down on the floor next to Jack and watched as Evelyn handed the presents to each person. Evelyn looked at her and nodded her head. _

_"Go ahead Amity," She had said. "You can open your presents." And that was exactly what Amity did. She opened the presents slowly to savor the feeling that it gave her. It symbolized that people actually cared and she wasn't about to let the moment slip away so easily._

_She pulled the wrapping off to find a box, she looked up at Evelyn who just smiled and nodded again, she opened the box to find ice skates. Amity smiled. When she was younger, she had lived in a foster home that was on the shore of Lake Michigan and they would go ice skating, her foster siblings had taught her to skate and she had just gotten good at it when she was taken away again. Overwhelming tears took over Amity's eyes and she found herself hugging Evelyn and saying 'Thank you' over and over again. _

- - -

Amity smiled at the memory as she walked down the stairs, that had been a great time for her. "All of you be careful." Evelyn warned when she saw the hockey sticks and ice skates. Bobby looked back at his mother and smiled. "Don't worry Ma. I'll make sure they come home with the smallest injuries possible." Evelyn smiled and nodded as they all walked out the door. They all quickly piled into Bobby's car. "Where are we going to play hockey in the middle of June?" Amity asked.

Bobby looked at her in the rear view mirror. "We're goin' to an indoor rink. Where the fuck else would we go?" He snapped.

"Okay. Jeez, no need to be all pissy about it. It was just a fucking question." When Evelyn wasn't around Amity's mouth could get just as bad as Bobby's. The car filled with chuckling and then they were quiet, until the car stopped outside of a building and they all quickly got out.

Everyone got in their gear and it was good because there was another group of the same amount on the ice so they could play hockey. Amity tied her skates and followed the four brothers' onto the ice. Everyone did a few laps to warm up and then they started the game.

Amity and Jack had both grown since their birthdays. Jack was now the tallest Mercer at 5'11 and Amity was now half an inch taller than Bobby who was still the shortest at 5'7. This of course made people think Amity and Jack were a few years older than they really were. That included the guys' they were playing against. One of them kept on asking Amity if she wanted to go get a drink with him, she of course just rolled her eyes and ignored him, which only made him try harder. Bobby had just scored so, of course they all took their positions and Amity was across from the guy, he asked her again, this time she got annoyed with him. "Hey wanna go out with me tonight for a drink?"

She sighed angrily. "Obviously I don't want to or I'd have said something by now you dumb ass!" Yes, it maybe have been uncalled for, for Amity to have called the guy a 'dumb ass', but she had gotten annoyed with him and ended up snapping at him. His faced contorted with anger. "Alls you had to do was say no, goddamn whore."

Memories of a foster father who enjoyed calling Amity by that name on a daily basis filled her mind and she felt the anger that had always been there building up as the guy smiled, satisfied that he had pissed her off. The next thing Amity knew she was on top of the guy and was punching the shit out of him. She was screaming every terrible word under the sun at this guy who was scared shitless at how fast she had reacted.

Jerry saw that Amity was getting angry and skated over to Bobby. "Bobby." Bobby looked at Jerry. "What Jerry?" He asked, obviously angered that Jerry had stopped the game. Jerry pointed to Amity and Bobby's gaze followed, he looked over just in time to see Amity land a punch right to the guys nose. Everyone skated over to the fight and Bobby and Angel pulled Amity off the guy. "I'm not so little anymore you shit bag! You can't hurt me now!" Amity was screaming at this guy and he was totally confused. The Mercers' could only shrug, since they were just as confused. Jack got down on his knees in front of Amity and looked at her. "Amity!"

Amity blinked and looked at Jack. She then looked around at everyone and yanked her arms from Bobby and Angel's grip. She got up and skated off the ice. She sat on the bench and started to angrily take her skates off.

Bobby got up and looked at his brothers'. "Find out what the fuck happened." They all nodded and Bobby skated over to Amity, who now had her sneakers on again. Bobby sat down beside her. "Man, if your eyes could set things of fire, your skates would be nothing, but ashes, melted plastic and metal." Amity looked at Bobby, her angry expression softened. "Hey, what was all that for?" Bobby asked, gesturing to the ice. Amity looked at the ice and sighed. "He was bothering me. He kept trying to pick me up." She shrugged. "I guess I look older than I really am. I just ignored him, but he wouldn't take the freaking hint and I just snapped at him. He... he got pissed off and called me a whore. I had a foster father who would do that, so it brought back memories and I got angry. And I didn't see him. I saw my foster father." Amity blinked at how she had so easily told Bobby everything. It was not like her. Then again, she had found that she was very talkative person, when she trusted people.

Bobby nodded. "Well you don't have to worry about anything like that anymore. We'll all protect you, I promised all my brothers' that I'd protect them. You aren't officially a Mercer, but I'll still protect you like you are one."

- - -

Jerry, Angel and Jack had just been told what had happened, they looked over to get Bobby and saw him hugging Amity. They were a bit shocked since it wasn't really something Bobby did a lot. They pulled away and Bobby got up and made his way back to the middle of the ice. "Alright what happened?" Bobby was wearing an expression that screamed 'Lying to me would be the worst mistake of your life.' The guy once again explained what happened he was standing up now. Bobby looked over at Angel and Jack, who quickly went to retrieve the long ago discarded hockey sticks. And then, before anyone could react, Bobby punched the guy right in the nose and the horrible crunching sound it made echoed throughout the rink. "Don't mess with the Mercers'."

And then Bobby skated off the ice. His brothers' followed, leaving the other team stunned.

_- - -_

Evelyn smiled when she heard the front door open. She walked in and watched as five pairs of skates and five hockey sticks were discarded at the bottom of the stairs. Evelyn looked them over quickly and saw no injuries. "Did you all have fun?" She asked as she followed all of them into the living room. Bobby nodded. "Loads, Ma, loads."

Evelyn frowned and then noticed Amity's knuckles, which were scratched from punching the guy. "Amity what on earth happened to your hands!?" Amity, out of habit, hid her hands as best as she could. Bobby, Jack, Jerry and Angel were all looking at Evelyn. "There's no use hiding it from me." She looked at her sons'. "What happened?"

It was obvious to Evelyn that Amity wasn't going to tell her so she had to rely on her sons'. "She got into a fight." Jack said so quietly that no one was really sure if he had spoken or not. Evelyn did though and she raised her eyebrows. "This guy was bothering her, so she beat him up."

Evelyn sighed and left the living room to go get the first aid kit. "She's not happy with me, is she?" Amity was looking at the coffee table. Bobby shook his head. "She isn't happy, but not with you. She isn't happy with me."

Amity raised her eyebrows. "You?" Bobby nodded and shrugged. "It's nothing really. I'm used to it. She'll just lecture me anyway." He said and the tone of his voice told Amity that it was true. "Come on Amity." Evelyn was standing in the door way with the first aid kit in her hand. Amity stood up and followed Evelyn.

Amity had her hands, palms down, on the kitchen table as Evelyn dabbed the scratches and bandaged the worse looking ones. The four Mercer boys walked into the kitchen and smiled. Evelyn and Amity looked at them with questioning looks. "Amity, I think you will be happy to know that we have come up with a nick name for you." Bobby said.

Jerry rolled his eyes. "Bobby came up with the nick name, so hate him." Amity smiled as Jerry pointed to Bobby, who rolled his eyes and sighed. "Okay, you remember that movie we watched a few weeks ago? The Amityville Horror?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Amity asked, even though she had an idea where the conversation was going. "Well, today your whole freak out thing reminded me of the movie. You're like a horror film when you get pissed, so I've decided to call you Little Miss Amityville Horror." Bobby said as he smirked.

Amity made a face. "I'm not little."

"I'm still gonna call you Little Miss Amityville Horror." Bobby said while shrugging.

Amity sighed and left the room. Evelyn looked at Bobby, which told Jack, Jerry and Angel that it was time for them to leave, which is what they did. "Bobby, you need to watch what you do with her."

Bobby sat down. "Why Ma? She can take care of herself." Evelyn nodded. "Yes she can, but did it ever occur to you that the guy she attacked could decide to press charges? If he decided to do that, she'd get taken away from here and she could end up back in a home like the one she just got away from!"

"Ma, you could talk to the judge though and get her in a nice home, or get her a second chance." Evelyn shook her head. "I know Bobby. I just don't want to take the risk." Bobby nodded.

Evelyn stood up and walked towards the hallway, she stopped and turned around. "I just ask that you watch out for her and help her avoid half the things that come with this city."

"You know I already am, Ma." Bobby said quietly as Evelyn left the room.

- - -

Jack watched from his bed as Amity put her hockey gear away. "Ya know, I'll just call you Amityville if you like that better." Amity stopped and looked up at Jack with a smile on her face. "Okay then, I get to call you Jack Attack."

"But, you already call me Jack Attack." Jack said slowly. Amity shrugged. "Psh, whatever."

Amity fell onto her bed, Jack raised his eyebrows as she made a face. "We graduate from 8th grade tomorrow." Jack nodded. "That's generally what happens when you are going to go to High School in the fall. And that was really random." Amity shrugged. "Still, I don't see why they would pick a Monday to graduate though."

Jack laughed. "You are so weird, talking about our graduation." Amity smiled and shrugged. "I blame Bobby."

"You blame me for what?" Bobby leaned against the door frame. "I blame you for making me weird." Amity said proudly. Bobby raised one eyebrow and walked into the room. "I gotta talk to you Little Miss Amityville Horror."

Bobby smiled and sat on the end of Amity's bed. "Can you please please please just call me Amityville?" Bobby shrugged. "I'll think about it. Anyway, you gotta control yourself. You can't go around beating up people and shit. It makes Ma worry."

Amity blinked and looked at the floor. "About?" She asked, even though she knew what Evelyn was worrying about. It had happened before after all. "You getting taken away. But, you already knew that. Didn't you?"

"Yeah." Amity said quietly.

Bobby nodded. "Thought so. How many times did it happen before?" Amity shrugged. "Five or six maybe seven. Usually with kids my age, he was the first one that was older. The cops don't like it when you fight in front of stores much, they also don't like it when you steal." The extra information made Jack's eyes widened a bit, sure his brothers' had been arrested, but he never thought that Amity would be the type to get arrested.

"Don't worry about that." Bobby said. "I've had my fair share of police visits. Hell I'm on first name basis with some cops. So are Angel and Jerry, Jack isn't really yet, but I'm sure he'll change that. Won't you fairy?" Bobby teased.

"Damn it, Bobby." Jack sighed angrily. Bobby just laughed and stood up. "Don't worry about the guy you beat up though. He had it coming to him and he won't go to the cops." Bobby walked out of their room, hoping that he had convinced Amity to avoid trouble whenever possible, like he had done with Jack. Though it hadn't exactly stopped him from throwing the odd punch or two.

Bobby walked toward the stairs as Angel and his best friend Alastair came up the stairs. "Hey Bobby, where are the lovers?" Angel smiled as Bobby pointed to Jack and Amity's room. Bobby walked down the stairs as they headed across the hall. "Hey Cracker Jack, Amityville. Right?" Amity nodded. "Well this is my best friend, Alastair Moore." Amity shook Alastair's hand. He was about as tall as Angel and had dark brown hair that was cut super short and blue eyes with specks of brown.

"Your name is... different." Amity said.

Alastair smiled. "Yep, my mom was a fan of odd names, she named my brother Marek. Obviously your mom was a fan of odd names too." Amity shrugged. "I'll never get to know for sure." The conversation ended there. Angel and Alastair went down the hall to his room, of course telling Amity and Jack that Alastair's family would be coming over for dinner later that night before leaving.

"I think you'll like his family. Mom's been friends with his parents' since High School. And their father, John, is a doctor. He's helped us keep Bobby out of trouble a few times. Maria, their mother, is nice woman. She's a lot like Evelyn. Marek is a year older than us, he hangs out with me sometimes, but not a lot." Jack shrugged and picked up the guitar that Bobby had given him for his birthday. Jack had been teaching himself how to play when Amity came to the Mercer home. He had gotten good over the last few months and was attempting to teach Amity how to play.

"Wanna practice?" Jack asked, holding the guitar out to Amity, who shook her head. "I can't play to save my life Jackie." Jack laughed. "Well you'll never learn if you don't try."

Amity sighed. "I've been trying. I'm a fast learner, Jack. If I was meant to play I'd have learned by now."

"Amityville, you can't get too cocky like that. Playing the guitar isn't like playing dodge ball in gym." Amity furrowed her eyebrows. "Well I'm giving up on it then. It won't do me any good being able to play anyway."

Jack frowned. "What are you talking about?" Amity looked at the ground. "Jack, I don't plan on being in a band and I like having longer nails and I enjoy painting them. I can't do that if I play."

"So, what are you saying? That I have to be in a band to play?"

Amity shook her head. "No, Jack. I'm saying that about _me_, not you. If you wanna play and not be in a band then be my guest. I don't care if that's what you do. But, I care about what I do."

"Calm down, Amity. I know that you didn't mean me. I was just kidding." Jack smiled as he placed his guitar next to his first one. Amity glared at him.

"Angel, Alastair, Jack, Amity dinners done!" Evelyn's voice filled the hallway, as they all ran down the stairs.

- - -

Bobby and Jerry were already sitting at the table along with an older man whom Amity figured was John. He had lighter brown hair that was streaked with gray and he had blue eyes with specks of brown. "Hi I'm John Moore, you must be Amity." Amity shook his hand and smiled. There was an older woman sitting next to him who looked sort of shocked to see her. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes. She cleared her throat as Amity shook her hand. "I'm Maria, John's wife." Amity smiled at her too and once again she looked shocked.

Amity brushed Maria's look from her thoughts. "I'm Marek." Marek smiled slightly and Amity smiled back. He too had dark brown hair and he had blue eyes. Once that was through, everyone said grace and then dug into the food.

After everyone had cleared their plates, the table was cleaned up and they all headed to the living room, except for Evelyn and Maria, to watch something on TV.

- - -

"So, what is her story?" Maria asked, Evelyn looked at her friend for a moment. "Her parents' died when she was three. She's gone to countless foster homes and I found out from Bobby that she's got a small rap sheet."

Maria frowned. "What did she do?" Evelyn sighed. "Nothing to big, just fights really. And a little bit of stealing. I assume nothing too bad with either one." Maria nodded. "Do you know her parents' names?" Evelyn's eyes widened and she knew why Maria was asking so many questions. She shook her head and frowned. "No, they were never given. No pictures either." Maria looked down and nodded.

John walked into the kitchen. "Well?" He asked, hoping for a good answer. "We can't tell for sure." Maria said. "How about we head home?" John asked. Maria nodded and left the room to get her sons'. "John, she's gonna need you tonight." He nodded. "I know and I'll be there. And then he walked out the door followed by his wife and sons'.

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Oh by the way, Alastair's name is pronounced Al-ass-tair. And Marek's name is pronounced Mah-rek. For anyone who wasn't sure if they were saying them correctly. 


	6. Chapter Six

First I'd like to thank **Embry, Dragon Rider Murtagh, Blackangle2011, Sweet-Romantic **and** Red Tail Cartoon** for the reviews on Chapter five.

Okay, now I'm very sorry for the lack of updates! I had terrible writer's block for a little while and the better part of July I was on vacation with no access to a computer. And now school will be starting up soon, but that should not take up very much of my time. Anyway, this chapter should make up for that, because it is pretty long.

Disclaimer: Still don't own them.

Now, enjoy Chapter 6!

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**Chapter six: High School Drug Ballad**

_Blood made a river down her arm and stained her light blue PJ bottoms a deep crimson color. She looked up and saw Henry smile at the site of her face that was probably colored a deep purple-ish blue color in some spots including her eye. He held the knife, ready to inflict another wound. She was frozen, waiting for the knife to sink deep into her side, just like he'd promised it would if she ever said 'no' to him again. He set the knife on the coffee table and kicked her hard in the stomach._

"_Get up!" Henry snapped._

_The metallic taste of blood made her spit, only to see the dirty brown carpet darkened in one section. She pushed herself up, ignoring the pain in her arm and stomach and stood up. _

_Henry smiled again and stepped closer. "Strip down. And this time don't even think about saying no or so help me god it will be the last thing you ever do." _

_By the time he finished, he was just inches away from her. She reluctantly did as she was told and found herself pinned to the couch before her PJ bottoms touched the floor. _

"_You're such a good whore." He purred into her ear. _

_Her eyes squeezed shut with pain. Her thoughts were on repeat. This is normal, he's just showing how much he loves me. The bruises and cuts are punishment and this is love. Was all she thought, each time it happened. She had to think like that, it, in a way, calmed her. Thinking that way helped her become numb and hide inside herself, away from the life she was living._

_Suddenly her cheek burned and Henry had anger in his eyes. "You goddamn bitch. Don't you ignore me!" He got off the couch and Amity froze in fear. Henry grabbed her wrist and yanked her up, she whimpered as pain shot up her arm. Henry grabbed her neck and pinned her against the wall. _

"_You're marked. You're my property for life. Never forget that." Henry sneered._

_She felt her eyes fluttering between consciousness and unconsciousness and she passed out from lack of oxygen. The last thing she heard was Henry's laughter._

_- - -_

Amity gasped and shot up. She looked around in the darkness, when she didn't see Henry anywhere she let out a breath and coughed because her throat was dry. She realized that she had her hand on her right arm and she let it go.

"Amity? Are you okay?" Jack asked tiredly.

Amity swallowed, feeling the lump in her throat. She wanted to say that she was fine. She wanted to tell Jack to go back to bed. When she opened her mouth totally different words came out.

"No." She said fear and the over whelming urge to cry made her voice crack. Jack's light went on and he walked over to her bed. His blue green eyes looked into her blue ones and he saw the familiar fear that plagued them.

"What's wrong? Bad dream?" He asked soothingly. He'd learned that that helped when you were scared, it was something he'd picked up from his mother.

Amity nodded.

"Wanna talk about it?" Jack asked in the same soothing voice.

Amity wanted so much to tell Jack about her dream, but her guard was up again and it stopped her from trusting him, even though she badly wanted to. Instead she pulled her legs up to her chest and let her chin rest on her knees.

"I deserved all of it." She said as tears fell down her cheek.

Jack looked her and furrowed his eyebrows. "I deserved every bruise, cut and broken bone." She stopped and wiped a tear away. "I brought it all on myself... even the..." She wanted to say 'even the rape' But, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Everything." She finally whispered.

Jack sat there, sadness fell across his face and he shook his head.

"No." He said quietly. "You didn't deserve any of it. Not the bruises, cuts or any of it. If there's anything that my mother has ever taught me, it's that none of it was meant for good. She taught me that I didn't do anything to deserve what I got and you didn't either. No matter what you were once told."

Amity's eyes locked on Jack. "It's not right and it never will be. Once you learn that, things will get easier."

Jack looked at the ground, remembering how he'd been told basically the same thing a few years before.

"Will they ever go away?" Jack looked at her. "No. You'll always have them in the back of your head, but the dreams will become a once and a while thing."

She nodded and sniffled. "That's why you had problems sleeping when you first came here isn't it?" Amity nodded again. "Yeah, that and fear." Jack nodded. "Yeah I know about that too..."

"I figured you did." Amity said as she got out of her bed.

"Where are you going?"

"Downstairs. I need a drink."

Jack nodded and followed her to the kitchen. "I need one too."

Amity rolled her eyes. There was fear still lurking in the back of her mind and she was a bit tense walking down to the kitchen, thinking that they'd get in trouble. Amity grabbed two glasses and filled them with water from the sink. She handed a glass to Jack and they both sat in the kitchen drinking their water. The back door opened and Bobby walked in with his arm wrapped around Molly, they were both laughing quietly.

"Shhh" Bobby said quietly.

"Everyone's sleepin'" He and Molly stopped when they saw Amity and Jack standing there. "What're you two doing up at this time?"

Amity and Jack held up their glasses and Bobby nodded.

"Well don't stay long, Ma will be pissed otherwise." They both nodded as the two nineteen year olds walked out of the kitchen and made their way upstairs.

Amity and Jack finished their drinks a few minutes later and headed upstairs. Once they were in the hallway Amity stopped and Jack walked into her.

"What are you doing?" Jack whispered fiercely.

"Bobby isn't in his room." Jack blinked at her and looked, Bobby's door was opened. In the Mercer home the bedroom doors were always closed when they were sleeping. It was a habit kind of thing. Because of what Bobby, Jerry, Angel and Jack had been through they closed their doors to keep people in their pasts from harming them. It was something they'd each done when they first came to live with Evelyn and it was something that she tried to stop with each boy. It didn't work though, if anything keeping their doors opened had made them worse for a time. Evelyn had decided to try and break this habit shortly after Jack had come out of his shell. Angel had taken to sitting up in bed and staring at his opened door all night long. He didn't sleep for the whole month that this 'experiment' lasted. Jerry had taken to curling up into a ball and burying himself under his covers and Bobby started sleeping with his arms curled around a baseball bat. And Jack had taken to sleeping under his bed. Needless to say Evelyn gave up after a month.

"Well, maybe he and Molly finally started dating." Jack suggested.

Amity shrugged and walked toward their room. "Maybe..." She said quietly.

Jack closed their door and went to his bed, Amity went to her own, but found the fear coming back. She tried to calm herself down and tell herself that she was safe with the Mercers. It didn't work though and she found herself standing at Jack's bedside.

"Jack." She whispered. Jack moved. "Yeah?" He asked, obviously not asleep.

"I'm scared." Amity admitted.

"Can I sleep with you?" Jack thought for a moment and moved so he was closer to the wall. Amity climbed in and they both got situated, so they would be able to sleep comfortably.

"Thank you, Jack Attack." Amity said. "You're welcome Amityville." Jack said while smiling.

- - -

It was now one week before school would start. Jerry had graduated and would be going to the community college with Camille, which left Angel as a senior and Jack and Amity as freshmen.

"The football players shove the freshman into their lockers for, like the whole first week." Jerry made a face. "Shut up Angel, They do not." Angel looked at Jerry.

"What're you talkin' about man? Course they do!"

"Is that what they did to you, Angel?" Amity asked.

Angel shook his head. "Naw, they didn't touch me."

Jerry laughed. "That's only cause you ran to Bobby each time someone was gonna hurt ya." Angel just shook his head again. Jack and Amity laughed.

"Look, y'all don't have to worry. Just tell 'em your last name and everything will be fine." Jerry said.

"What about me?" Amity asked.

"Don't you worry Amityville. You just stick with Jackie-boy and everything will be fine."

Amity nodded and Jerry left the living room to finish packing up his things, since he was moving into Camille's apartment. Angel got up to help him and then Bobby and Molly walked in. Bobby had his arm around Molly's waist.

"So the two of you are finally an item?" Jack asked as they sat down.

"Yes Cracker Jack we are an 'item'. How 'bout you and Amityville? Are you two finally dating?" Jack pursed his lips.

"Why would we date, Bobby? We're just friends."

Jack nodded his head to show that he agreed with Amity. Bobby just shrugged. "I don't know, Amityville. Molly and I used to say the same thing when people would ask us the same question and look at us now."

Amity rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Bobby." Bobby just laughed.

Amity stood up and walked into the kitchen. Evelyn was doing dishes. She looked up when Amity walked in.

"Ah just the person I was looking for. Have time for a little chat?" Amity nodded and sat down at the table. Evelyn dried her hand and sat down across from Amity. She was quiet for a moment.

"So, why the sudden bed switch?" Amity looked at Evelyn and blinked.

"Uh... we don't do that all the time. Only when one of us has a nightmare..." Evelyn nodded.

"I'd like you to stop. I understand that it's a comfort thing, but you two are going to be in High School now and well I'm sure you know about teenagers and sex."

Amity frowned. "You really think Jack and I would..."

She couldn't finish the sentence. Amity had never thought about such a thing when she'd climb into Jack's bed or vice versa. And giving their pasts she couldn't believe that Evelyn would think that they'd do that.

"Well dear, I know it sounds crazy to you, but look at Bobby for example. He went through a very similar situation and he's had sex before."

Amity looked at the table. She felt odd talking about what Bobby's done before. "Was Bobby abused in that way?" Evelyn was quiet for a moment and then nodded. "Not as much as you or Jack, but he was."

"Was..." Amity swallowed. "Was Bobby marked like property?"

Evelyn's face twisted with confusion and she shook her head. "No dear, why?" Amity's hand moved to her right arm, Evelyn noticed this.

"Do you mean scars, Amity? Why don't you let me see your mark."

Evelyn looked at Amity who was still looking at the table. Neither of them noticed Bobby standing in front of the opened fridge. His mouth was opened and he was staring at his mother in shock. He had walked in to get drinks for Jack, Molly and himself, when he heard his name and then everything else. His mother had promised that she'd never tell anyone about his past and she'd just broken her promise. He was utterly shocked. Jack had walked into the kitchen through the dining room and was just standing in the door way watching. Of course they'd both heard some of the conversation.

Amity reluctantly pushed her sleeve up to reveal two, small, circular burn marks, one on her wrist and the other near her inner elbow. The one that made Evelyn and Jack gasp and made Bobby drop the drinks he had was a set of ugly, raised scars that went up her inner arm, starting just after her wrist and ending just before the circular burn. They were neatly placed to form a name.

Jack stepped closer. "Whose Henry?" He asked, having a good idea as to who Henry was.

Evelyn turned in her seat and Amity's head snapped up so fast that a pain was sent through her neck. Jack wasn't looking at his mother, who was giving him a look that would have made just about anyone feel some fear, his eyes were glued to the scar and Amity knew this. She badly wanted to cover it up, like she'd managed to do for the period of time she'd called the Mercer residence home. But, for some reason, her hand was frozen and she couldn't bring herself to push her sleeve back down.

"When did it happen?" Evelyn asked quietly.

Amity swallowed and shrugged. "When I was younger I suppose." She said in a voice that made it feel as if the scar was no big deal.

She finally found the use of her arm and pulled her sleeve back down. She stood up and left the kitchen. Angel and Jerry said 'Hi' to her as they made their way outside, but Amity just pushed past them and a few moments later a door from above slammed. This made everyone stop. Molly exchanged looks with Angel and Jerry who just shrugged and went back to their business.

Evelyn stood up and faced her sons'. "What are you two doing in here?" She snapped quietly.

Bobby stepped forward. "You told." He whispered.

Evelyn's blue eye fell upon his face, which was masked by anger, but his eyes held hurt. Evelyn's expression softened and she pulled her son into a hug.

"I didn't tell her everything. You didn't even tell me everything. And you know as well as I do that she won't tell anyone." Evelyn said softly. Bobby pulled away, barely nodded and left the kitchen. Jack stayed where he was as his mother turned to him.

- - -

Amity pulled the dark blue duffel bag out from under her bed, she hadn't used it since coming to the Mercers'. Now it just held some small things that Amity didn't want anyone else to see. She unzipped the bag, inside it was three small boxes, each of which contained bullets for the silver hand gun that was also in the bag. A large pocket knife, a manila envelope and a small, pale yellow teddy bear that had definitely seen better days, were the only other items in the bag. The pocket knife, gun and bullets had all been stolen from a store in the dead of night. No one had ever found out that she had taken the weapons. The manila envelope held eight birthday cards, three from her parents', three from the woman who claimed to be her aunt, one from the Mercers', Sofi, Camille and Molly had each signed that one, and one from her friends. The envelope also held five pictures and a necklace. Amity emptied the envelope and picked up the pictures. The first one was taken almost a year ago. It had the Mercers' and Amity all sitting in front of the Christmas tree. She shuffled the picture to the bottom of the small stack and found herself looking at a man with olive colored skin and dark brown hair. From what she could tell, the man had brown eyes. He was sitting in a living room and had a baby sitting on his lap. The baby was smiling and clutching a pale yellow teddy bear close to her chest. The baby was wearing a light blue dress that would tell anyone that the baby was a girl. She had a tuft of dark brown hair on her head and blue eyes. Amity turned the picture over and read the neat writing, which read, _Armando and Amity. September 15, 1982. _

This picture was also shuffled to the bottom and Amity came face to face with another picture of herself and her father. This time she was three years old and her father was pulling her in a wagon. She was hanging onto the sides and, from the look of the picture, she was laughing happily. Amity blinked and realized that she looked just like her father, except for her blue eyes, which came from her mother. She didn't say a word as she shuffled the picture and found herself looking at a picture of her and Jack. They were both sitting on the front steps, the sun was setting so it bathed them in an orange glow. She looked over the picture for a moment, the memories of that day fresh in her mind since it had been taken only a month and a half before. She shuffled the picture and was left with the last picture. This was the only picture that Amity had with her mother in it. It had been taken two weeks before the car accident that had taken her parents' from her. She only knew this because of the date that had been written on the back. Amity read the back of the picture and smiled. Her mother's name was Nicolette, she liked that name. But, she couldn't complain since it was her middle name. Amity, remembering the picture, turned it over and took in the familiar features of her father and her three year old self. Then her eyes went to her mother. She had milky colored skin and long dirty blond hair, which was put up in a neat bun. Her blue eyes matched Amity's. As far as Amity knew her eyes were the only thing she'd gotten from her mother and this, in a way, upset her. She liked the way her mother looked. It was obvious that her mother had to be in her mid 30's and her father in his late 20's. She still thought her mother was beautiful, unlike Amity who felt that she was just plain Jane average.

Amity took in the picture and smiled. She had her mother's smile too. Amity put the cards and the pictures back into the envelope. She'd been taken over by a sudden sadness at the fact that she'd never get to see the people she had so few memories and pictures of. Amity picked up the pocket knife and flipped the blade out. It glimmered in the sun light. She pushed up her sleeve, exposing the mark. Amity swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and placed the blade on her arm. "I'd rather have my arm reflect fake suicide than _his _mark."

With that said Amity took a deep breath and pressed down on the blade and then dragged it up her arm, only stopping once there was a red line cut through the name. She repeated this process until blood covered the name and when her arm healed there would be lines through the name, ultimately making it unreadable.

- - -

Jack walked up the stairs and walked toward his room. He was fuming because his mother had yelled at him and he was looking to vent to Amity about it and maybe get some answers out of her about that scar. He opened his door and froze. Amity's head turned and she was looking at him and Jack was sure that she was mirroring his expression.

"Oh my god! Are you insane!?"

Jack found the use of his body and grabbed his pillow. He pulled the pillow case off and tossed the pillow away as he fell to his knees by Amity and wrapped her bleeding arm with the pillow case. Amity gave Jack a pleading look and he noticed the knife and the gun in her bag. Jack looked at her again. He gave a small nod and wiped the knife on the pillow case then he tossed it back in her bag, zipped it up and shoved it under the bed. He walked over to his night stand and pulled out a knife of his own, he got some blood on it and placed it on the floor, then with one last look at Amity, he screamed for his mother.

Evelyn was there seconds later and just seconds after that they were all piled into her mini van and speeding to the hospital. Everyone was just about in total hysterics, except for Amity who was silent. There was no waiting when they got into the emergency room. The moment the nurse saw the blood stained pillow case, Amity was rushed through a set of double doors and was brought into a room. A few doctors came in seconds later and after giving Amity a few shots began stitching her arm.

- - -

Many stitches later Amity was laying in a hospital bed on the third floor. Her right arm was heavily bandaged and she had an IV placed just above the bandages, giving her blood. Her eyes were closed as she was pretty tired, but she couldn't sleep. Guilt was keeping her awake and she felt about ready to explode if someone didn't speak soon. She opened her eyes and found everyone surrounding her bed, none of them were looking at her.

"I'm sorry." She said quietly.

This made them look up. Evelyn's head tilted a bit. "Don't be sorry, dear. I'm sure you had your reasons for that." She gestured to Amity's arm and Amity nodded.

"I did." She stopped. "I had a very good reason."

"And what was that reason?" Evelyn asked gently.

Amity swallowed. "I didn't want to carry his mark around with me. His name doesn't deserve to be there."

Evelyn looked at the ground, thinking. And finally to Amity's relief, Evelyn looked at her and nodded.

"You're going to have to see a Psychologist because of this though." Amity nodded. She didn't want to go see a Psychologist, but she wasn't about to argue.

- - -

Three days later, Amity was released from the hospital. Before leaving, she'd asked the doctor if the cuts would become raised when they'd heal. The doctor had said that they most likely wouldn't, but he gave her a special cream that Amity was to rub on the cuts when they healed, to make them less noticeable. Amity would have to wait at least two and a half weeks before the cuts would heal and a week and a half before the stitches could come out. This meant that she'd start school with her arm heavily bandaged. She wasn't very worried about it though.

"So, are you going to be wearing less long sleeved shirts in warm weather?"

Amity nodded. "Of course. I'm going to use that cream stuff on them, so no one will ask questions."

Jack nodded and fell onto his bed. "When do you start seeing the shrink?" Amity looked at him. He was looking at the ceiling. "Monday, Jack. Monday. I'll be seeing her three times a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays."

"What about when school starts?"

Amity ran a figure down the bandages. "What about it?" She asked.

"Is it going to cut into school time?" Jack asked. Something like hope was in his voice. Amity looked at him again and fell back onto her bed too.

"What? Do you plan on doing something so you can go see a shrink too?"

Jack gave a shrug that Amity didn't see. "Well if it cuts into school time..."

Amity rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "Jack, they made sure it wouldn't cut into school time. So, don't bother. Besides, it probably won't be worth missing school."

"I don't think it will be that bad, Amity."

"Yeah, maybe." She said in a not so convincing tone. Jack chose to ignore it.

- - -

Jack and Amity were riding in Angel's new car. Of course none of them asked where or how he had gotten it. They only knew that he and Bobby had left after lunch and came back at dinner time, Angel driving his own car.

Angel pulled into the student parking lot and they all got out. Sofi and quiet a few other people came over as soon as Angel closed his door. They all noticed Jack and Amity.

"Oh man, Angel what the fuck are you doing with little freshmen." A white boy with a bulky build asked as he cracked his knuckles and smiled.

Angel stepped closer to him, while Sofi and surprisingly Alastair stepped closer to Jack and Amity.

"They're Mercers', Shawn. You make sure everyone knows to keep away from them and anyone they're with got it? They are off limits." Angel glared at Shawn, they were both about the same height, but Shawn had obviously worked out more than Angel had. Yet he took a step back and nodded.

"Sure thing Angel, I'll make sure everyone knows." He turned and left, a few more white boys following him. Jack and Amity blinked. Angel's attitude was very different at school than it was at home. They could both tell that Angel had some authority around the building. He watched Shawn and his friends stop to talk to a crowd of kids and turned to Jack and Amity.

"Okay, if anyone gives you trouble, you just tell them you're a Mercer. If they don't leave you alone, you give me their name and Bobby and I will pay them a little visit. Okay?"

They both nodded. Angel smiled. "Okay. Well you too better find your homerooms."

"Bye guys." Sofi and Alastair said.

Jack and Amity waved their response and hurried to the front doors to find their homerooms and their friends.

* * *

Now I would like to say that when I pointed out skin color, I was not in any way, trying to be racis or anything of that sort. I, also, was not trying to target anyone with the rape, abuse, and cutting scenes. Therefore, none of these scenes should be taken as such. 


End file.
